Bitch Media - Just Seedshttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/5980/0
enSm{art}: The Summer of Nikki McClurehttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/smart-the-summer-of-nikki-mcclure-feminist-magazine-art-activism-cut-paper
<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7789849662_d0c7567462_z.jpg" alt="Nikki McClure print of mom and child in pool enjoying summer" height="313" width="640" /></p>
<p>As summer stretches its legs in the Pacific Northwest, Nikki McClure's <a href="http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=nikki12"target="_blank">calendar </a>is helping me count down the months. The cut paper artist seems to be everywhere now: on bookshelves, greeting cards, and fabulous <a href="http://www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/upcoming/nikki_mcclure/index.html"target="_blank">retrospectives in museums</a> opening this fall. McClure is known for her dramatic etchings of everyday life, resistance, and celebration. As Cinders Gallery puts it, "Armed with an X-acto knife, she cuts out her images from a single sheet of paper and creates a bold language that translates the complex poetry of motherhood, nature, and activism into a simple and endearing picture." She's been doing it for over a decade, and despite age, fame, and maybe a little fortune, seems to be as true to her roots as before. And that's what's so inspiring: a continuous evolution of radical art-making that doesn't sell out after life changes like having families or getting older.</p>
<p>It's a breath of fresh air, really, that as the activism of the '90s grows up, it is simply maturing, not growing obsolete. We need a multi-generational spectrum of radical art—from children's books, to cover art for DIY albums and zines. The benefit of Nikki McClure's relative recognition is that her images are in homes, <a href="http://www.buyolympia.com/q/Item=mama-is-it-summer-yet"target="_blank">being read to children</a>. While some of us are needed on the streets, she's pioneering another front of activism within the home, with images that maintain the vitality of street art and the values of localism. She still collaborates with the radical artist collective <a href="http://www.justseeds.org/"target="_blank">Just Seeds</a>, and she still has her work available on <a href="http://www.buyolympia.com"target="_blank">buyolympia.com</a>, a bastion for local commerce. Rather than hurling age-old criticisms of "selling out" when an artist becomes known, we should look to McClure as a guide for how artistic and political values can remain intact throughout the changing seasons.</p>
<p><strong>Previously:</strong> <a href="/post/smart-diggin-deep-with-cristy-c-road-art-queer-poc-zines-feminist-magazine-books-music"target="_blank">Diggin' Deep with Cristy C. Road</a></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/smart-the-summer-of-nikki-mcclure-feminist-magazine-art-activism-cut-paper#commentsactivismartGraphic DesignJust Seedsnikki mcclureArt and DesignWed, 15 Aug 2012 21:49:31 +0000Amanda Eckerson18351 at http://bitchmagazine.orgSm{art}: The People's History series by Just Seedshttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/smart-the-peoples-history-series-by-just-seeds
<p>As the American calendar rolls around to another historically-dubious holiday, it's comforting to know you can celebrate the righteous kind of history year-round with <a href="http://www.justseeds.org/artists/celebrate_peoples_history/">People's History posters </a>from <a href="http://www.justseeds.org/">Just Seeds.</a> At four bucks a pop, you can afford to load up on your favorite activists, or give them as presents to remind folks of the heroes that History-with-a-capital-H (not to mention present-day media) tends to conveniently forget. Here are just some of the offerings...</p>
<p><center><img alt="A woman raises a CNT flag. Text at the top reads Las Mujeres Libres celebrate people's history" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2723/4134321923_449cf6581e.jpg" /><br />
The women-anarchist militias of the Spanish Revolution of 1936 by Cristy Road</center></p>
<p><img alt ="an orange poster depicts aesthetically graphic Oaxacan women. Two carry pans, one is wearing a bandanna and raising her fist. Another towards the front carries a mirror reflecting armed guards" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2584/4135084534_73ba96cfd1.jpg" /><br />
Resistance during the 2006 teachers' strike in Oaxaca by Tim Simons and Barucha Calamity Peller</p>
<p><img alt ="a woodcut depicts a man in a hat that reads No To WTO and who has a handful of rice. The poster text is in English and Korean" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4135084484_d4b6668d44.jpg" /><br />
The Korean Peasants League, indigenous farmers who stood up to the WTO by Nicole Schulman </p>
<p>And you can buy the People's History series as <a href="http://www.justseeds.org/celebrate_peoples_history/02postcard1.html">postcard </a><a href="http://www.justseeds.org/celebrate_peoples_history/02postcard2.html">packs </a>too! Here's one of Sylvia Ray Rivera, NYC drag queen and activist in the Gay Liberation Front, Black Panthers, and Young Lions, and a Stonewall rioter (art by John Gerken).</p>
<p><center><img alt="Sylvia and the poster's text look like spray-painted stencils. Sylvia is raising a fist and her mouth is shouting. The text beneath her reads Stonewal 1969." src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2538/4134321965_fed1cc1681.jpg" /></center></p>
<p>Just Seeds is an artist cooperative whose artists are scattered throughout the United States, and have plenty of other cool artwork besides the People's History series! Check out the selection at <a href="http://justseeds.org/">JustSeeds.org.</a></p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/smart-the-peoples-history-series-by-just-seeds#commentsactivismart activismJust Seedspeople's historypostersArt and DesignThu, 26 Nov 2009 02:12:59 +0000Kjerstin Johnson2575 at http://bitchmagazine.org